Thomas Jefferson vs Georgetown

[and 99 others]

Hey all, I'm having a hard time deciding between these two schools. COA is basically the same so I am not including that in the factors.

Thomas Jefferson
Pros

• Incredibly warm and supportive student and faculty community. I really felt the whole school making an effort to genuinely make us want to attend
• Students seemed genuinely happy
• Good name (I think?)
• Prefer philly to DC in terms of costs of living
• P/F pre clinical
• Appealing curriculum
• Diverse patient population

Cons

• Maybe not as reputable as Georgetown
• Large class size
• Not P/F for clinical years (though I think this is common)
• Not a diverse student body

Georgetown
Pros

• P/F pre clinical
• Loved the campus itself and the immediate area surrounding campus
• Stronger matchlist
• Stronger name (I think?)
• Ranked higher. But not by a huge margin
• I am interested in health advocacy/policy so DC and Georgetown are great for this

Cons

• Not P/F for clinical years (though I think this is common)
• DC is crazy expensive
• I always hear people saying negative things after interviewing but my interview experience was totally lovely all around so I am not sure if I am missing something.

Overall, I feel like I would be happy at both places but frankly, name/prestige and connections do matter to me; I am not sure what specialty exactly I want to go into but I can see myself pursuing something competitive and thus want to maximize my chances as much as possible. I am not sure if the difference in rank between the two matter much at this level but I would love to hear what others think.

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[deleted915325]

Don't know much about Georgetown, but Jefferson has a really good reputation in the region, especially for optho (ranked 1 or 2 in the country) and ortho (Rothman institute does all the philly sports teams). The hospitals do compete with Penn and Temple health systems in Philly but they recently bought out Kennedy health so they are also spreading into south Jersey where their competition is Cooper and Virtua. I don't go to Jeff but attend another school in the area so I interact with their students frequently and I like them more than med students from most other schools. They're generally very intelligent yet down to earth.

 

[tyrannosaurus_racks]

DC is comparatively expensive but you need to understand that all the housing around here is townhouses where you'll have 3-5 roomates splitting the costs with you. For me as an undergrad, living off campus in the Georgetown neighborhood is actually cheaper than living in on-campus housing.

 

[and 99 others]

Bumping now that we are closer to decision date. Please let me know what you all think!

 

[mt14]

I think the prestige of the two are the same in the medical field. I’d go with whichever has a lower overall cost of attendance, curriculum that fits you best, preferred location, and ideal clinical rotation sites/patients (dc vs philly population)

 

[and 99 others]

I think the prestige of the two are the same in the medical field. I’d go with whichever has a lower overall cost of attendance, curriculum that fits you best, preferred location, and ideal clinical rotation sites/patients (dc vs philly population)

I thought that Georgetown was more well-renowned by a decent margin?

 

[mt14]

I thought that Georgetown was more well-renowned by a decent margin?

Georgetown’s PD ranking (7.3) is 6 spots (Schools) in front of jefferson (7). Georgetown is definitely more well known generally because of their undergrad, law school, etc. In the medical field though there really isn’t a huge difference. So while Georgetown is technically ranked a tiny bit higher than jefferson, it’s up to you to decide if it is worth the big difference in living expenses. DC is definitely way more expensive than philly, even if the tuition is the same

 

[medDaisuki]

If you are really interested in health care policy then Georgetown may be a better choice, given it’s location in DC and it’s possible the medical school has some collaborations with the law school?
But I believe the cost of living is lower in Phily. Both are great schools, congrats

 

[lalalaaaaaa]

If you're interested in policy, can't imagine many places can beat Georgetown. I went to Jeff, feel free to DM.

 

[Yhwach]

GT if you are serious about policy.

If not basically
1) Happiest
2) cheapest